Although it was recently revealed that 'Star Wars: Episode 7' would begin filming in Morocco this month, Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn has dropped a bit of a surprise on all of us: the film is already shooting. But the even more surprising revelation is that most of the casting is already complete. Say what?
We've been excitedly devouring every scrap of news to come out of the forthcoming 'Star Wars' animated series, 'Star Wars Rebels,' but what of all the unreleased material from 'Star Wars: The Clone Wars'? Fans of the now-defunct series are in for some good news, as the "Lost Missions" will hit Netflix in their entirety in March, along with the complete series collection and director's cuts of seasons 1-5!
There's been a lot of speculation over whether J.J. Abrams and Disney could reach an agreement over the release date of 'Star Wars: Episode 7,' with Abrams recently scrapping Michael Arndt's script to rework the story and characters. But now we have official confirmation that the latest entry in the 'Star Wars' franchise will indeed be released on December 18, 2015, putting it right up against Duncan Jones' 'Warcraft.'
The primary cast of the original 'Star Wars' trilogy have all but guaranteed they'll be showing up in the J.J. Abrams-directed 'Star Wars: Episode 7,' though there was a question if Harrison Ford would return. The latest report is that not only will Ford be back, he may be in for all three films in the new trilogy. And supposedly part of the deal to get Han Solo to return involves work starting on 'Indiana Jones 5.'
One of the very first 'Star Wars: Episode 7' announcements (minus the announcement that it was actually happening) was that Michael Arndt, the Oscar-nominated screenwriter behind 'Toy Story 3' and 'Little Miss Sunshine,' would be writing the script.
No longer.
Lucasfilm has confirmed today that Arndt is out and director J.J. Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan ('The Empire Strikes Back') have "assumed screenwriting duties" on 'Star Wars: Episode 7.'
Ever since Disney announced that 'Star Wars: The Clone Wars' would close down production in favor of the new series 'Star Wars Rebels,' which is set in between the original trilogies, we've been more impatient than Luke Skywalker for a look. Now it seems we may only need to wait until next week, as the first teaser of 'Star Wars Rebels' has been scheduled to air.
Although fans weren't in as quite an uproar when J.J. Abrams was announced to director 'Star Wars: Episode 7' as, say, when a certain 'Daredevil' took on The Dark Knight, but there was a pocket of die hards doubting whether the 'Star Trek' helmer could carry the next chapter of 'Star Wars.' For those still questioning his abilities, Abrams recently opened up about the next installment.
Much of the speculation surrounding 'Star Wars: Episode 7' has been in regards to its release date - mostly because it doesn't have an official one yet. But, when will J.J. Abrams and crew actually start production on the new 'Star Wars' film? Sounds like we have a pretty good idea now.
Though no casting has been officially announced yet, many of the behind the scenes players on 'Star Wars: Episode 7' are starting to line up. It appears that J.J. Abrams' regular cinematographer Dan Mindel has joined the movie, and he's revealed that the latest episode of 'Star Wars' will be shot on film.